Former BoE Governor King says finance ministry will have to row back on Brexit warnings

Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King said Britain's finance ministry was in a difficult position after making exaggerated claims about the economic risks of leaving the European Union in the run-up to last week's referendum.

"I think the Treasury is in a difficult position now because it did make very clear forecasts which I think were exaggerated in terms of at least the certainty they led people to believe could be attached to those forecasts, and now I think they're going to have to row back," King told BBC television.

He also said that if Britain's economy slows after the referendum decision to leave the EU, it would not be the right time for a budget that cuts spending and raises taxes.

British finance minister George Osborne said earlier on Monday that he would not rush through a so-called emergency budget, despite having suggested during the campaign that he would have to do so after a vote to Leave the EU.

"We've already seen in the space of this morning that there will not be an emergency budget, and I think that that was perhaps the nadir of the exaggeration," King told the BBC.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Stephen Addison, writing by William Schomberg)